Powell City Council Regular Meeting – February 3, 2026

The Powell City Council met in regular session on Tuesday, February 3, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. in Council Chambers, 47 Hall Street, Powell, Ohio. Council approved the January 20, 2026 minutes, adopted Resolutions 2026-12 and 2026-13, heard committee and city manager reports, discussed snow response and the next two-year planning cycle, and voted to enter executive session. No citizens spoke during the public participation period.

Approval of Minutes

• Council approved the minutes of the January 20, 2026 City Council meeting without discussion or dissent.

Resolutions

Resolution 2026-12 – Bucket Truck Purchase

• The city manager and Service Director Charles presented a resolution authorizing the city manager to purchase a bucket truck from Environmental Equipment to replace a 2013 Ford F-550 used by the Department of Public Service. Charles said the equipment is critical to operations. An earlier plan to remove the bucket truck was adjusted so that the old truck will be repurposed and the new truck will be dedicated to street light and traffic-related work. No public comment was offered. Council adopted the resolution by voice vote with no opposition.

Resolution 2026-13 – Updated Employee Handbook

• Council adopted the updated employee handbook after discussion. The city manager said the update was intended to keep city policies current, and an itemization of changes was provided in the memo. Council member David expressed concern about the artificial intelligence portion of the handbook, noting that information entered into AI leaves the city and could expose proprietary or private data. He said the policy was difficult to enforce and represented a significant liability as the city grows. The city manager responded that staff is working with Easy IT and Doug McCollula to explore technical help, possibly through a consultant, and will continue to close gaps on the AI policy. No public comment was offered. Council adopted the resolution by voice vote with no opposition.

Committee Reports

• A committee reported that an upcoming meeting was canceled and that citizen appointments to a board or commission would wait until the next council meeting; the committee would meet without the appointees and hoped to be fully seated in March.
• Powell Development Corporation representative Sean reported approval of a facade grant for back patio work at a downtown business, plus budget carryover and budget format adjustments. The next PDC meeting was noted for February 24.
• The agenda listed upcoming meetings for the Finance Committee on March 10, Operations Committee on February 17, and Planning and Zoning Commission on February 11.

City Manager's Report

• The city manager noted that an executive session had been requested and that further action was anticipated. He then reported that snow, cold temperatures, and ice over the previous two weeks affected city services and the community. The service department was called out early Friday to help with downtown parking availability. Jurisdictional questions created challenges, with calls from people using Powell mailing addresses who were not city constituents. Snow pushed onto sidewalks created a continuing problem. The city is reviewing snow-removal enforcement in the roughly 300-acre historic downtown and is considering moving away from the police-department code model to a zoning-style process with notice and city remediation plus penalties.
• The city manager praised the skeleton crew for storm response, noting that HR administrator Jason took 50 snow-related phone calls from concerned residents with Powell mailing addresses, most of whom were not constituents.
• The city manager said the city is exploring partnerships with downtown businesses, including through Visit Downtown Powell, and coordination among the development and finance committees and the Powell Development Corporation.
• The city manager thanked council and staff for the Saturday planning session on the 2026-27 two-year planning cycle. The draft of discussion items is being distributed. The 2026-27 objectives continue the 2024-25 priorities: maintaining city infrastructure, reducing traffic, and increasing parking options downtown. Four additional themes were summarized: facilities such as police, public services, and city hall; available land and public-private partnership; project funding; and communication/storytelling.

Other Council Matters

• Council members thanked staff for storm response and for the weekend planning retreat. One council member praised the city's crew for the residential response and contrasted it with complaints received by an elected official in an unnamed city to the north.
• A council member reported a positive follow-up meeting with the Tanji Ridge Civic Association after a Planning and Zoning Commission discussion about a proposed building near Beach Ridge Drive. The council member explained that the zoning code rewrite had taken a long time and was not targeted at any one neighborhood, and said the association understood and looked forward to working with the city.
• A council member reported a positive Zoom call with a board of trustees connected to the retreat and praised the presentation, saying it made approval easy.
• A joint meeting of Council and the Planning and Zoning Commission was announced for March 11.

Key Outcomes

• Approved the January 20, 2026 minutes.
• Adopted Resolution 2026-12 authorizing purchase of a bucket truck from Environmental Equipment, with no opposition.
• Adopted Resolution 2026-13 adopting the updated Employee Handbook, with no opposition.
• Continued staff work on downtown snow enforcement, artificial intelligence protections, and the 2026-27 planning objectives.
• Voted to enter executive session under Ohio Revised Code 121.22(G)(1), (G)(3), and (G)(8); no further open-session action appeared after that vote.